Monitor chaining and docking mechanism

ABSTRACT

A circuit that supports multiple monitors, docking functions, and protected content via one cable. The circuit includes a receiver that receives multiple video streams, each including respective video data, a mux/demux, coupled to the receiver, that determines which video stream to display on a monitor, a display interface coupled to the first mux/demux, wherein the display interface is configured to generate output signals based on the video data of the determined video stream to be displayed on the first monitor, a transmitter coupled to the mux/demux, and a transmit physical interface (TPI) coupled to the transmitter. The mux/demux sends at least a remainder of the video streams to the transmitter, which sends them to the TPI, which transmits them as output, useable as input to further instances of the circuit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/223,730 filed Sep. 1, 2011, which claims priority to commonly ownedU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/381,698 filed Sep. 10, 2010, thecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention is related to computer systems, and more particularly, toa mechanism that supports multiple monitors, docking functions, andprotected content via a single cable.

BACKGROUND

Modern computer systems often include multiple monitors and otherperipheral devices with corresponding communication requirements whichmay lead to a proliferation of cables that clutter the workspace and maycomplicate operation and maintenance of the system. Universal Serial Bus(USB) is currently a popular technology that allows both video and otherfunctions to be transmitted over the same link. Such functionality mayalso be implemented via the well-known Ethernet protocol. For example,various products have been developed that allow connection of differenttypes of display (e.g., monitors) via USB. Examples of productsutilizing these technologies include the SMSC and DisplayLink™ family ofintegrated circuits (ICs), which are embedded into peripherals,monitors, or projectors, to facilitate graphics connectivity over USB,and Hewlett-Packard's Multipoint™ zero client products, as well asvarious USB Docking Station products provided by Hewlett-Packard,Toshiba, Lenovo, Kensington, etc.

However, USB based solutions entail a heavy CPU burden, and complexproprietary software generally must be developed and maintained acrossoperating systems. Moreover, content protection is currently notsupported. Gigabit Ethernet does not have sufficient bandwidth tosupport uncompressed video, and 10 Gigabit Ethernet is not currentlycost effective. Additionally, compressed video may introduce visualartifacts when video is being displayed to the end user. Wirelesstechnologies currently are also not suitable due to low bandwidth.

SUMMARY

A system, e.g., a circuit such as an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), and method of use are presented. The circuit may includea receiver that supports digital content protection, e.g., a DisplayPort(e.g., v1.2) receiver with High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection(HDCP), although in other embodiments, other protocols than DisplayPortmay be used as desired. The receiver may support multiple data lanes,e.g., up to 4 DisplayPort lanes, as well as an auxiliary channel. Thesource of the multiple data channels may be a graphics card of a hostcomputer, i.e., a graphics processing unit (GPU), as opposed to the hostcomputer's CPU, which is the data source in prior art solutions, such asthose utilizing USB. Thus, this feature of the present approach offloadsprocessing from the host CPU to the GPU, thereby significantly reducingoverhead for the CPU.

The receiver may include or be coupled to a mux/demux(multiplexer/demultiplexer), also referred to as a mux/demux block orcomponent, which may operate to receive a single (e.g., combined) signalfrom the receiver and provide multiple outputs, each of which may beselected by the demux for output. Note that depending on the particularfunctionality being discussed, the mux/demux may be referred to hereinsimply as a mux or a demux.

The receiver may also be coupled to a serial hub, e.g., a USB hub, e.g.,a USB 2.0 or 3.0 hub, which may support serial connectivity to multipleperipheral devices or components, as well as Ethernet connectivity,e.g., via 10/100 Ethernet MAC, and 10/100 PHY components, as shown. Theserial hub may further couple to an audio codec component via which thecircuit may communicate with speakers and/or a microphone, as indicated.

The mux/demux may be coupled to a low-voltage differential signaling(LVDS) converter, a transmitter that supports digital contentprotection, such as a DisplayPort transmitter with HDCP, and an HDMIconverter. LVDS is an electrical signaling system that operates viainexpensive twisted-pair copper cables. The LVDS converter blockextracts audio stream(s) and, may pass them to a coupled audio codeccomponent for communicating with speakers and/or a microphone. The LVDSconverter may also couple to a dual channel

The transmitter may couple to a transmit physical interface, e.g., aDP++ PHY component, which may facilitate transmission of HDMI and/or DVIsignals via the DisplayPort interface utilizing an external passiveadapter. The HDMI converter receives signals from the mux/demux,converts the signals to HDMI, and provides the HDMI signals to the HDMItransmitter (with HDCP), which then provides the HDMI signals to thetransmit physical interface, which in one embodiment is a DP++ PHYcomponent. Thus, the DP++ PHY component may provide for outputtingDisplayPort and/or HDMI/DVI signals. For example, in one embodiment, theDP++ PHY component may support transmission of a single HDMI or DVIchannel, or multiple, e.g., up to 4, DisplayPort. In some embodiments,the circuit (i.e., the chip) may be integrated inside a display device,such as a computer monitor.

In some embodiments, the circuit may be used to implement a zero client.For example, the circuit may implement a zero client in a monitor (or,alternatively, in a separate device). The daisy chaining functionalityof the circuit described above with respect to a multi-monitor computersystem may also support the use of multiple zero clients daisy chainedfrom a single host computer.

Additionally, in some embodiments, the graphics card of the hostcomputer may include multiple Display Port interfaces, which may allowfurther zero clients to be served from the same host computer. In someembodiments, exposed serial ports, e.g., USB ports, may be provided oneach zero client to support HID devices such a mouse, keyboard, andcamera, among others, thus allowing respective users to access the hostcomputer independently. As described above, built in HDCP for DisplayPort may enable content protection to be supported.

Thus, various embodiments of the circuit disclosed herein may be used toimplement multi-display computer systems, and/or devices, e.g., zeroclient systems where multiple zero clients are served by a single hostcomputer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Advantages of the present invention will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art with the benefit of the following detaileddescription and upon reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram illustrating a circuit, e.g., anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary computer system with multiple monitors,according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram of a monitor, according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a method for handling video signalsin a monitor via a circuit;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary zero client system with multiple zeroclients served by a single host computer, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary block diagram of a zero client system in which asingle host computer with two display ports serves two chains of zeroclients, according to one embodiment; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a chain of devices that communicate with a hostcomputer, according to one embodiment.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should beunderstood, however, that the drawings and detailed description theretoare not intended to limit the invention to the particular formdisclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Terms

The following is a glossary of terms used in the present application:

Memory Medium—Any of various types of memory devices or storage devices.The term “memory medium” is intended to include an installation medium,e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks 104, or tape device; a computer systemmemory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM,Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash, magnetic media,e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, or other similartypes of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may comprise othertypes of memory as well or combinations thereof. In addition, the memorymedium may be located in a first computer in which the programs areexecuted, or may be located in a second different computer whichconnects to the first computer over a network, such as the Internet. Inthe latter instance, the second computer may provide programinstructions to the first computer for execution. The term “memorymedium” may include two or more memory mediums which may reside indifferent locations, e.g., in different computers that are connectedover a network.

Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physicaltransmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physicaltransmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Programmable Hardware Element—includes various hardware devicescomprising multiple programmable function blocks connected via aprogrammable interconnect. Examples include FPGAs (Field ProgrammableGate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (FieldProgrammable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). The programmablefunction blocks may range from fine grained (combinatorial logic or lookup tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processorcores). A programmable hardware element may also be referred to as“reconfigurable logic”.

Software Program—the term “software program” is intended to have thefull breadth of its ordinary meaning, and includes any type of programinstructions, code, script and/or data, or combinations thereof, thatmay be stored in a memory medium and executed by a processor. Exemplarysoftware programs include programs written in text-based programminglanguages, such as C, C++, PASCAL, FORTRAN, COBOL, JAVA, assemblylanguage, etc.; graphical programs (programs written in graphicalprogramming languages); assembly language programs; programs that havebeen compiled to machine language; scripts; and other types ofexecutable software. A software program may comprise two or moresoftware programs that interoperate in some manner. Note that variousembodiments described herein may be implemented by a computer orsoftware program. A software program may be stored as programinstructions on a memory medium.

Hardware Configuration Program—a program, e.g., a netlist or bit file,that can be used to program or configure a programmable hardwareelement.

Program—the term “program” is intended to have the full breadth of itsordinary meaning The term “program” includes 1) a software program whichmay be stored in a memory and is executable by a processor or 2) ahardware configuration program useable for configuring a programmablehardware element.

Graphical User Interface—this term is intended to have the full breadthof its ordinary meaning The term “Graphical User Interface” is oftenabbreviated to “GUI”. A GUI may comprise only one or more input GUIelements, only one or more output GUI elements, or both input and outputGUI elements. A GUI may comprise a single window having one or more GUIElements, or may comprise a plurality of individual GUI Elements (orindividual windows each having one or more GUI Elements), wherein theindividual GUI Elements or windows may optionally be tiled together.

Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems,including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system,workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, zero client,personal digital assistant (PDA), television system, grid computingsystem, or other device or combinations of devices. In general, the term“computer system” can be broadly defined to encompass any device (orcombination of devices) having at least one processor that executesinstructions from a memory medium.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

DisplayPort is a digital display interface standard provided by theVideo Electronics Standards Association (VESA) (since 2006), whichdefines a royalty-free, digital audio/video interconnect, intended to beused primarily between a computer and its display monitor, or a computerand a home-theater system. The DisplayPort standard is gainingsubstantial momentum in the PC industry to become the default videoconnector. For example, version 1.2 supports higher resolutions (thanprevious versions), up to four daisy chained monitors (1920×1200), andan 800 Mbps auxiliary channel.

Embodiments are disclosed herein of a system, which in some embodimentsmay be implemented as a circuit that supports multiple monitors, dockingfunctions, and protected content via a single cable. Additionally, insome embodiments, docking functions normally handled by USB may be sentor received over an auxiliary channel, including, for example, functionsfor audio, human interface devices (HIDs), Ethernet, and so forth, amongothers. In various embodiments the circuit may be implemented as anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or programmablehardware, such as an FPGA, e.g., a chip. The circuit may implement orutilize the DisplayPort standard, although other protocols may be usedas desired.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of thecircuit 100. However, it should be noted that in other embodiments,different sets of components and/or arrangements and interconnectivityof the components may differ from those shown. In one exemplaryembodiment, the circuit 100 may be implemented as an ASIC.

As FIG. 1 shows, in this embodiment, the circuit 100 may include areceiver 104 that supports digital content protection 106, e.g., aDisplayPort (e.g., v1.2) receiver with High-Bandwidth Digital ContentProtection (HDCP), although, as noted above, in other embodiments, otherprotocols than DisplayPort may be used as desired. The receiver 104 maysupport multiple data lanes. For example, the DisplayPort-basedembodiment of FIG. 1 may support up to 4 DisplayPort lanes, as well asan auxiliary channel. Note that the source of the multiple data lanesmay be a graphics card of a host computer, i.e., a graphics processingunit (GPU), as opposed to the host computer's CPU, which is the datasource in prior art solutions, such as those utilizing USB. Thus, thisfeature of the present approach offloads processing from the host CPU tothe GPU, thereby significantly reducing overhead for the CPU.

The receiver 104 may be coupled to a mux/demux, e.g., Display Portmux/demux 108, also referred to as a mux/demux block or component, whichmay operate to receive a single (e.g., combined) signal from thereceiver and provide multiple outputs, each of which may be selected bythe mux/demux for output. The receiver may also be coupled to a serialhub, e.g., USB hub 110, e.g., a USB 2.0 hub (or other version), whichmay support USB connectivity to multiple USB devices or components, aswell as network, e.g., Ethernet, connectivity, e.g., via 10/100 EthernetMAC, and 10/100 PHY components, as shown. The USB hub 110 may furthercouple to an audio codec component 116 via which the circuit maycommunicate with speakers and/or a microphone, as indicated.

As FIG. 1 also indicates, the mux/demux 108 may be coupled to alow-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) converter 118, a transmitter122 that supports digital content protection 124, such as a DisplayPorttransmitter with HDCP, and an HDMI converter 126. The LVDS converter 118may couple to the audio codec component 116 for communicating withspeakers and/or a microphone. The LVDS converter 116 may also couple toa dual channel LVDS serializer/deserializer (SerDes) 120 that mayoperate to convert data between serial data and parallel interfaces fortwo data channels. As shown, this output may be provided to a monitorpanel for display. Alternative to LVDS, an Embedded Display Port, eDP,or other type of interface may be used.

As further shown, the transmitter 122 may couple to a transmit physicalinterface 132, e.g., a DP++ PHY component, which may facilitatetransmission of HDMI and/or DVI signals via DisplayPort wires, asfurther indicated by HDMI converter 126 and transmitter 128 (with HDCP130), where the HDMI converter 126 receives signals from the mux/demux108, converts the signals to HDMI, and provides the HDMI signals to theHDMI transmitter 128, which then provides the HDMI signals to thetransmit physical interface 132, which in this embodiment is the DP++PHY component 132. Thus, the DP++ PHY component 132 may provide foroutputting DisplayPort and/or HDMI/DVI signals. For example, in oneembodiment, the DP++ PHY component may support transmission of a singleHDMI or DVI channel, or multiple, e.g., up to 4, DisplayPort lanes (orvideo streams).

In some embodiments, the system, e.g., the circuit (e.g., the chip) 100may be integrated inside a display device, such as a computer monitor,as will be described in more detail below; however, in otherembodiments, the circuit (or generically, the system) may be implementedin or as a separate device that couples to a monitor.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary computer system 200 that includes acomputer 202 and multiple monitors 204, 206, and 208, according to oneembodiment. In some embodiments, each of the monitors includes a system,e.g., a circuit, 100 in accordance with the present invention. As shown,the computer 202 may be communicatively coupled to a first monitor 204(of the multiple monitors) via a single cable. Each additional monitor(e.g., 206 and 208) may be “daisy chained” from the first monitor 204,with a respective single cable coupling each successive pair ofmonitors. In other embodiments, each monitor may be coupled to arespective system, i.e., a respective instance of the system (e.g.,circuit). Note that the term “circuit” may be used herein to refer tothe system, but is intended to refer to any physical implementationswith the described functionality.

FIG. 3 is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary component layout ofa monitor 300, according to one embodiment. As FIG. 3 shows, the monitormay include a circuit 306, which in the exemplary embodiment shown is anASIC, such as an SMSC DPX5000 chip. The circuit may be configured toreceive input from a host computer's GPU 302, in this case, (up to) fourvideo streams of data (e.g., DisplayPort video streams DP video streams0 through 3), which may also be referred to as data lanes, and anauxiliary channel (aux). As shown, the circuit 306 may couple to displaypanel 304 of the monitor via the LVDS whereby video from one of thevideo streams may be displayed.

As also shown, in one embodiment, the circuit may provide up to fourvideo streams of data plus the auxiliary channel as output, e.g., tosubsequent monitors daisy chained to the monitor 300 (each with arespective instance of the circuit described herein). Note that in someembodiments, the output data may be the input data minus the videostream extracted for display on the monitor 300. In other words, asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 1, the mux/demux 108 of thecircuit may extract a video stream from the input data for display onthe monitor panel (304), and send at least the remainder of the data asoutput. Note, however, that in some embodiments, all of the videostreams may be provided as output, including the video stream extractedfor display on the monitor. In other words, all of the video streams(plus aux) may be passed on to each of the monitors in the chain.Moreover, in embodiments where auxiliary data are also included in thevideo streams, the auxiliary data (or a portion of the auxiliary data)may also be passed on to downstream monitor(s) (and/or respectivecircuits).

As FIG. 3 also indicates, the circuit 306 may also communicate withserial, e.g., USB, peripheral devices, such as mouse 312 and keyboard314, as well as 10/100 Ethernet devices. The circuit 306 may furthercommunicate audio signals to or from mic 308 and speakers 310 (e.g., viaaudio codec), which in this embodiment, are shown built into themonitor.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for handling video signals in a monitor viaa system, e.g., a circuit, according to one exemplary embodiment. Themethod shown in FIG. 4 may be used in conjunction with any of thecomputer systems or devices shown in the Figures, among other devices.In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown may beperformed concurrently, in a different order than shown, or may beomitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired. Asshown, this method may operate as follows.

First, in 402, a plurality of video streams, e.g., up to four videostreams, may be received on a receiver of the circuit, e.g., on theDisplayPort receiver 104 (see, FIG. 1) that is included in a monitor,such as, for example, the first monitor 204 of FIG. 2. Each video streammay be capable of supporting a 1920×1200 monitor, although otherresolutions may be used as desired. If content protection is enabled,the HDCP engine in the receiver may decrypt the respective videostream(s), e.g., the video data. Of course, in other embodiments, otherengines or means may be used to decrypt the video streams.

In 404, the mux/demux may determine which video stream is to beterminated in the monitor. In other words, the mux/demux may determinewhich video stream of video data is to be displayed on the presentmonitor. The determined video stream (of video data) may be routed tothe LVDS converter. Note that alternatives to LVDS may be used asdesired.

In 406, the LVDS converter may send the video data (of the determinedvideo stream) to the LVDS SerDes which may be capable of directlycontrolling the monitor's (display) panel.

In 408, if audio data are included in the video stream, the audio dataare extracted and sent to the audio codec component. In one embodiment,the audio codec component may connect to speakers and/or a microphoneembedded in the monitor, although in other embodiments, the speakersand/or microphone may be external to the monitor.

In 410, the other (e.g., up to) four video streams, e.g., all or aremainder of the video streams, if present, may be routed to thetransmitter, e.g., the DisplayPort transmitter;

In 412, the transmitter may then transmit the remainder of the videostreams as output via the transmit physical interface, e.g., the DP++PHY. In some embodiments, the transmit physical interface (e.g., theDP++ PHY) may be daisy chained to a second monitor that also includes acircuit according to the present invention. Similarly, the secondmonitor may be chained to a third such monitor, and the third monitor toa fourth, as desired. Thus, the circuit may operate to extract one ofthe video streams for display on the monitor send the remainder of thevideo streams (if any) as output for display by one or more subsequentmonitors daisy chained to the monitor.

Note that if content protection is required (and enabled) the videostreams may be encrypted, e.g., using HDCP, e.g., via the HDCPcomponents of the DisplayPort and HDMI transmitters.

As noted above, due to the Display Port PHY dual functions of HDMI/DVI,in some embodiments, instead of supporting (up to) three DisplayPortvideo streams, the user may opt to support a single HDMI/DVI port

While the above described embodiment of the method of FIG. 4 isparticularly directed to DisplayPort (or other display protocol) andHDMI/DVI functionality of the circuit, in some embodiments, additionalfunctionality, e.g., hub or docking functionality, is also an importantfeature. For example, in some embodiments, the signal further includesauxiliary data, where the auxiliary data includes non-video data. Thus,as described above with reference to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, thecircuit may also include an auxiliary channel, and moreover, a serialhub, e.g., a USB (e.g., 2.0 or 3.0) hub may be integrated in thecircuit, and may connect to the auxiliary channel. The auxiliary channelmay be configured to provide a shim layer for transmitting and receivingUSB traffic.

More specifically, the serial (e.g., USB) hub may provide support forvarious (e.g., USB) human interface devices (HIDs), such as a mouse,keyboard, touch sense, or camera, among others, and may also providesupport for an (e.g., USB) audio device by controlling the embeddedaudio codec. Moreover, as also indicated in FIG. 1, the hub may alsosupport an Ethernet port or other network interface, which may beparticularly useful if the host computer is a small form factor netbookwhich does not provide a 10/100 port.

Thus, the method may also include an auxiliary channel, coupled to orincluded in the receiver, sending or receiving the auxiliary data to aserial hub, coupled to the receiver via the auxiliary channel, and theserial hub providing serial I/O for peripheral device or networkcommunications via the auxiliary channel. As also indicated above, insome embodiments, the method may include communicating, via an audiocodec coupled to the serial hub, audio data with a microphone orspeakers. Thus, the serial hub may provide docking functions includingone or more of: audio functions, functions for human interface devices(HIDs), or functions for network communications.

More generally, summarizing the above, in some embodiments, the methoddescribed above with reference to FIG. 4 may be performed by a firstinstance of a circuit (which may be referred to as a system) that isincludable in (or connectable to) the first monitor, where furtherinstances of the circuit are includable in (or connectable to) each ofthe one or more additional monitors. The instances of the circuit may bedaisy chainable. Each instance of the circuit may be useable to receiveat least a subset of the plurality of video streams, extract and displaya video stream from the at least a subset of the plurality of videostreams on a respective monitor, and transmit at least a remainder ofthe at least a subset of the plurality of video streams as output toanother of the instances of the circuit.

Thus, for example, in one embodiment, each instance of the system mayfurther include an auxiliary channel, coupled to or included in thereceiver, where the signal further includes auxiliary data that includesnon-video data. The auxiliary channel may be configured to send orreceive the auxiliary data, e.g., to provide for communication betweenthe system and the host computer (or upstream instances of the system).Each instance of the system may further include a serial hub, coupled tothe receiver via the auxiliary channel. The serial hub may be configuredto provide serial I/O for one or more peripheral devices coupled to theserial hub.

In some embodiments, when the instances of the system are daisy chained(e.g., when devices, such as monitors or zero client devices thatinclude such instances are daisy chained), the instances may implement asequential tiered star topology. Moreover, via embodiments of thetechniques disclosed herein, a first video stream of the plurality ofvideo streams may be associated with the serial hub of the firstinstance of the system (circuit), and successive video streams of theplurality of video streams may be respectively associated with theserial hubs of the further instances of the system in a sequentialmanner, thereby associating each video stream with the one or moreserial peripheral devices respectively coupled to each serial hub.

As noted above, in some embodiments, at least a remainder of the videostreams includes (all of) the plurality of video streams, and mayfurther include auxiliary (e.g., non-video) data. Alternatively, inother embodiment, the at least a remainder of the video streams may be asubset of the plurality of video streams.

Zero Clients

In some embodiments, the circuit may be used to implement a zero client.For example, the circuit may implement a zero client in a monitor (or,alternatively, in a separate device). The daisy chaining functionalityof the circuit described above with respect to a multi-monitor computersystem may also support the use of multiple zero clients daisy chainedfrom a single host computer.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of such a system, where a hostcomputer 502 serves a plurality of zero clients 506, 508, and 510,implemented in respective monitors via an embodiment of the circuitdisclosed herein. As FIG. 5 shows, the host computer 502 may becommunicatively coupled to a first zero client 506, e.g., over aDisplayPort wired connection or another high bandwidth connection suchas Thundebolt or wired PCIe.

As indicated, one or more successive zero clients, e.g., zero clients508 and 510, may be daisy chained from the zero zero client 506. Notethat in DisplayPort (v1.2) based embodiments, up to four zero clientsmay be chained from a single host computer. Said another way, thearchitecture disclosed herein may enable up to four zero clients to bedaisy chained together via Display Port connectors. Note that suchclients are referred to as “zero ” due to the absence of a CPU, i.e.,processing is performed by the host computer where the Display Portinterfaces originate.

Additionally, in some embodiments, the graphics card of the hostcomputer may include multiple Display Port interfaces, which may allowfurther zerp clients to be served from the same host computer, as shownin FIG. 6, described below. In some embodiments, exposed USB ports maybe provided on each zero client to support HID devices such a mouse,keyboard, and camera, among others, thus allowing respective users toaccess the host computer independently. As described above, built inHDCP for Display Port enables content protection to be supported.

FIG. 6 is a high-level block diagram illustrating an exemplary zeroclient system 600, according to one embodiment. As may be seen, in thisembodiment, host computer 602 includes a GPU 604, which includes twodisplay ports, specifically, two DisplayPort interfaces (DP I/F 0 and DPI/F 1), where DP I/F 0 couples to a first zero client 0 (606), fromwhich are daisy chained three additional zero clients, specifically,zero client 1 (608), zero client 2 (610), and zero client 3 (612), eachof which may include a circuit, as disclosed herein. Thus, per theabove-described techniques, the first zero client 606 may extract arespective video stream (or lane/channel) for display from the multiplevideo streams provided by the host computer's GPU, and send (at least)the remainder of the video streams (and aux) to the next zero client608, which extracts its respective video stream for display, and passeson (at least) the remainder of the video streams (which may include oneless video stream than the received remainder of video streams) to thenext zero client 610, and so on, to zero client 3 612. Note that thelast zero client in the chain, in this case, zero client 612, has nofurther zero client to send any remainder to, and may have no remainderof video streams to send, if all data have been displayed.

As noted above, in some embodiments, rather than supporting multipledownstream zero clients, the first zero client in a chain may output asingle HDMI/DVI signal to an appropriate HCMI/DVI device.

As FIG. 6 also shows, in this embodiment, the zero client system 600also includes a second, similar, chain of zero clients, specifically,zero client 4 (614), coupled to the second DisplayPort interface DP I/F1, and zero client 5 (616), zero client 6 (618), and zero client 7(620), daisy chained from zero client 4 (614). This chain operates in asimilar manner as the first chain of zero clients, discussed above.

Thus, various embodiments of the circuit disclosed herein may be used toimplement zero client systems. More particularly, embodiments of thenovel architectures and techniques described herein may utilizeDisplayPort to implement zero clients.

It should be noted that while the embodiments of zero clients describedabove embed the circuit in the monitors, in other embodiments, thecircuit may be external to the monitor, e.g., may be embedded in a zeroclient chassis coupled to the monitor.

Thus, in various embodiments, the circuit may be used to implementmulti-monitor computer systems, as well as chained zero client systems.As discussed above, prior art approaches to these systems generallyrequire significant software overhead and maintenance, and do notsupport content protection. In contrast, DisplayPort, which does supportcontent protection, is currently supported by most major operatingsystems, and due to such native support for this interface (protocol), alimited amount of software support is required.

Furthermore, in the embodiments disclosed herein, much of the processingis offloaded to the (host) computer's graphics processing unit (GPU),and so there is minimal overhead on the CPU. This is in contrast withprior art solutions, such as USB, which require substantial CPUbandwidth.

Generalizing and summarizing the above, in some embodiments, a systemmay be provided that includes two or more daisy chained monitors. Eachmonitor may include (or be coupled to) a respective circuit thatincludes a receiver, configured to receive a signal comprising aplurality of video streams, where each video stream comprises respectivevideo data. Each circuit may further include a mux/demux, coupled to thereceiver, and configured to determine which video stream of theplurality of video streams is to be displayed on a first monitor. Thecircuit may also include a low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS)converter, coupled to the mux/demux, and configured to generate an LVDSsignal based on the video data of the determined video stream, as wellas an LVDS serializer/deserializer (SerDes), coupled to the LVDSconverter, and configured to generate a display signal based on the LVDSsignal and send the display signal to a display panel of the firstmonitor. The circuit may further include a transmitter, coupled to themux/demux, and a transmit physical interface, coupled to thetransmitter. The mux/demux may be further configured to send at least aremainder of the video streams of the plurality of video streams to thetransmitter, and the transmitter may be configured to send the at leasta remainder of the video streams to the transmit physical interface,which may be configured to transmit the at least a remainder of thevideo streams as output. As explained above in detail, the at least aremainder of the video streams (which may include auxiliary data) maythen be useable as input to one or more additional monitors coupled tothe first monitor.

A first monitor of the two or more monitors may be coupled to acomputer, and the circuit of the first monitor may be configured to:receive the plurality of video streams from the computer, extract anddisplay a first video stream of the plurality of video streams, andtransmit at least a remainder of the plurality of video streams to asecond monitor of the two or more monitors. The circuit of the secondmonitor may be configured to: receive at least a remainder of theplurality of video streams from the circuit of the first monitor, andextract and display a second video stream of the plurality of videostreams. The circuit of the second monitor may be useable to transmitanother at least a remainder of the plurality of video streams torespective circuits of one or more further monitors in a daisy chainmanner. In other words, each monitor (or circuit) in the daisy chain mayselect and extract a video stream (possibly including auxiliary data)from multiple video streams for display, and then pass some or all ofthe video streams to the next monitor (or circuit) in the chain.

FIG. 7 illustrates a chain of devices, e.g., zero clients, configured tocommunicate with a host computer and each other via the techniquesdisclosed herein, according to one embodiment. The exemplary embodimentshown may implement or facilitate aggregation and/or encapsulation ofserial peripheral device traffic (e.g., USB peripheral traffic) over a(fast) auxiliary channel via mux/demuxes (e.g., modules) via multiple(sequential) tiers of serial hubs, e.g., USB hubs, and in someembodiments, monitor management information may also be aggregatedand/or encapsulated in the auxiliary channel. Moreover, the exemplarysystem of FIG. 7 further illustrates how video streams may be associatedwith such a serial hubs, e.g., in a sequential tieredarchitecture/topology.

At a high level, at least one device in the system of FIG. 7 may beconfigured to receive data on an auxiliary channel, pull peripheral datafor that device's peripheral devices, and management information forthat device's display (monitor), and send at least a portion of thereceived data to downstream devices. As FIG. 7 indicates, such datatransmission can also be in the other direction. In other words, in someembodiments, in addition to sending data downstream (after readingdesired data from the stream), the device(s) may be configured toreceive data from downstream devices, optionally read select data fromthe stream, and send at least a portion of the data upstream, e.g., toanother device or a host computer.

As may be seen, in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 7, three devices,e.g., zero clients, labeled Station 0, Station 1, and Station 2,respectively, are communicatively chained together. Each devicecommunicates with its neighbor(s) via respective mux/demuxes,specifically, first mux/demuxes and/or second mux/demuxes. Note thatStation 2 does not show a second mux/demux, since there are no furtherdownstream devices, although in some embodiments, this device, too, mayinclude a respective second mux/demux.

The device labeled Station 0 (i.e., device 702) will now be described,although it should be noted that the description generally appliesrespectively to the other two devices, as well (Stations 1 and 2), andfurther, that the devices of FIG. 7 are meant to be exemplary only, andare not intended to limit the device(s) contemplated to any particularset of components, arrangement, or functionality.

As shown, device 702 may include a serial hub, e.g., a USB hub 710,which may be configured to communicate with one or more peripheraldevices, e.g., USB peripherals. The device 702 may further include afirst mux/demux 706 and a second mux/demux 708, coupled to each otherand to the serial hub 710. The first mux/demux 706 may also beconfigured to couple to an auxiliary channel 701, which may facilitatecommunication with a host device (or other device, such as an upstreamstation or zero client), e.g., a graphics processing unit (GPU) of apersonal computer (PC). The first mux/demux may further couple to amonitor management interface 704, shown in FIG. 7 as a monitor DDC(Device Discovery and Control) slave, which may be configured tocommunicate management information regarding a monitor included in orassociated with the device 702. In one embodiment, the managementinformation may include Extended Display Indentification Data (EDID),such as manufacturer, resolution, product code, etc., among othermonitor attributes.

Thus, the aux channel 701 may provide management information formonitors, and peripheral data for serial peripheral devices.

In the context of the above-described devices of FIGS. 1-3, in someembodiments the first and second mux/demuxes (706/708, 716/718, 726) ofdevice 701 may be in addition to, and distinct from, the mux/demux 108,described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, which handles video data.Thus, these mux/demuxes may be considered second and third mux/demuxeswhen considered with (first) mux/demux 108. However, since the mux/demux108 is not shown or integral to FIG. 7, the mux/demux pairs of thedevices of FIG. 7 will be referred to below as first and secondmux/demuxes (for each device) for convenience and clarity. The firstmux/demux may be included in a receiver of the device (not shown in FIG.7, but described above), along with the monitor management interface704.

The first mux/demux 706 may be configured to communicate the auxiliarydata with the auxiliary channel (which in term may communicate the datawith the host computer or other device). The auxiliary data may includeserial I/O for peripheral devices (i.e., serial peripheral data) andmanagement information for one or more monitors (i.e., monitormanagement information), including first management information for amonitor included in or associated with the device, e.g., the firstmonitor 204 discussed above. The first mux/demux 706 may be furtherconfigured to communicate the serial I/O for peripheral devices with theserial hub, and to communicate the first management information with themonitor management interface, where the first management informationincludes values for attributes of the first monitor, e.g., EDID. Themonitor management interface may be configured to communicate the firstmanagement information with the first monitor. The serial hub may beconfigured to communicate the serial I/O for peripheral devices with theauxiliary channel and one or more peripheral devices, e.g., coupled tothe serial hub, as shown in FIG. 7.

Thus, the various components shown in device 702 may operatecollectively to provide communication paths for monitor management andserial peripherals (e.g., human interface devices (HIDs), wherebyattributes of the first monitor 204 (not shown) may be retrieved and/orset, and peripheral device data communicated with the host computer ordevice. In other words, auxiliary data that includes both monitormanagement information and peripheral device data, i.e., serial I/O forperipheral devices, may be sent and/or received to/from the hostcomputer/device, and further, the monitor management information may bedirected (by the first mux/demux 706) to/from the monitor managementinterface 704 (which may be coupled to the first monitor), and theserial I/O for peripheral devices may be directed (by the firstmux/demux 706) to/from the serial hub 710 for provision to serialperipheral devices coupled thereto, as shown.

In some embodiments, communication of such auxiliary data with one ormore downstream devices may also be supported. For example, as FIG. 7shows, in some embodiments, the first mux/demux 706 may communicatedownstream management information, e.g., downstream DDC data, with thesecond mux/demux 708. Similarly, serial hub 710 may communicatedownstream serial peripheral data with the second mux/demux 708. Thus,the second mux/demux 708 may facilitate communications between thedevice 702 and one or more downstream devices, and thereby facilitatecommunications between such downstream devices and the hostcomputer/device.

More specifically, in one embodiment, the second mux/demux 708 may beconfigured to communicate the management information for one or moremonitors with the second mux/demux and downstream devices coupled to thedevice 702, and further, to communicate the serial I/O for peripheraldevices with the serial hub and the downstream devices coupled to thedevice 702.

Note that device 712 (Station 1) includes analogous components with thesame or similar functionality, including first mux/demux 716 (which mayreceive auxiliary data from device 702's second mux/demux 708) andsecond mux/demux 718, coupled to the first mux/demux 716, serial hub720, coupled to first mux/demux 716 and second mux/demux 718, as well asrespective serial peripheral devices, and monitor management interface714, coupled to the first mux/demux 716.

Similarly, device 722 (Station 2) includes first mux/demux 726 (whichmay receive auxiliary data from device 712's second mux/demux 718) (butno second mux/demux, as mentioned above), serial hub 730, coupled tofirst mux/demux 726, as well as respective serial peripheral devices,and monitor management interface 724, coupled to the first mux/demux726.

Each such device may be configured to communicate auxiliary informationto and from upstream devices and downstream devices (except, of course,for the last device in the chain), providing portions of the auxiliarydata as appropriate to its respective serial peripheral devices andmonitor management interface, and feeding the auxiliary data (possiblyaugmented or reduced) to the upstream and/or downstream devices, e.g.,for further processing.

Thus, embodiments of the above device(s) or systems may implement orprovide for communications over a fast auxiliary channel regardingmonitor management information and serial peripherals between the hostcomputer and one or more devices, e.g., zero client devices, chainedfrom the host device, as shown in FIG. 7. This functionality, incombination with the video stream related functionality described above,may associate video streams (e.g., DisplayPort streams) with serialhubs, which in turn may couple displays, e.g., monitors, and serial hubswith connected serial peripheral devices, e.g., HIDs. For example,following the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 7, in one embodiment, Station0 and a video stream, e.g., stream 0, may be associated with serial hub710 at a first tier, Station 1 and another video stream, e.g., stream 1,may be associated with serial hub 720 at a second tier, and Station 2and yet another video stream, e.g., stream 3, may be associated withserial hub 730 at a third tier, where the tiers relate to the tieredtopology of the serial bus system disclosed herein. In other words, thechained devices (with their respective serial hubs), implement asequential tiered star topology, as discussed above.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent tothose skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated.It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace allsuch variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a receiver, configured toreceive a signal comprising a plurality of video streams, wherein eachvideo stream comprises respective video data; a first mux/demux, coupledto the receiver, wherein the first mux/demux is configured to determinewhich video stream of the plurality of video streams is to be displayedon a first monitor; a display interface coupled to the first mux/demux,wherein the display interface is configured to generate output signalsbased on the video data of the determined video stream to be displayedon the first monitor and wherein the display interface is configured tocouple with the first monitor; a transmitter, coupled to the firstmux/demux; and a transmit physical interface, coupled to thetransmitter, wherein the first mux/demux is further configured to sendat least a remainder of the video streams of the plurality of videostreams to the transmitter, wherein the transmitter is configured tosend the at least a remainder of the video streams to the transmitphysical interface, and wherein the transmit physical interface isconfigured to transmit the at least a remainder of the video streams asoutput, wherein the at least a remainder of the video streams are usedas inputs to one or more additional monitors coupled to the firstmonitor, and wherein the transmit physical interface is configured tocouple with at least one of the one or more additional monitors.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein a first instance of the system is includablein the first monitor, wherein further instances of the system areincludable in each of the one or more additional monitors, wherein theinstances of the system are daisy chainable, and wherein each instanceof the system is useable to receive at least a subset of the pluralityof video streams, extract and display a video stream from the at least asubset of the plurality of video streams on a respective monitor, andtransmit at least a remainder of the at least a subset of the pluralityof video streams as output to another of the instances of the system. 3.The system of claim 2, wherein each instance of the system furthercomprises: an auxiliary channel, coupled to or comprised in thereceiver, wherein the signal further comprises auxiliary data, whereinthe auxiliary data comprises non-video data, wherein the auxiliarychannel is configured to send or receive the auxiliary data, wherein theauxiliary channel provides for communication between the system and thehost computer; and a serial hub, coupled to the receiver via theauxiliary channel, wherein the serial hub is configured to provideserial I/O for one or more peripheral devices coupled to the serial hub;wherein when the instances of the system are daisy chained, theinstances implement a sequential tiered star topology, wherein a firstvideo stream of the plurality of video streams is associated with theserial hub of the first instance of the system, and wherein successivevideo streams of the plurality of video streams are respectivelyassociated with the serial hubs of the further instances of the systemin a sequential manner, thereby associating each video stream with theone or more serial peripheral devices respectively coupled to eachserial hub.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least a remainderof the video streams comprises the plurality of video streams.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the at least a remainder of the video streamscomprises a subset of the plurality of video streams.
 6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the receiver comprises a high definition contentprotection (HDCP) engine that supports HDCP, wherein the receiver isconfigured to decrypt the plurality of video streams via the HDCP engineif content protection is enabled.
 7. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising: an auxiliary channel, coupled to or comprised in thereceiver, wherein the signal further comprises auxiliary data, whereinthe auxiliary data comprises non-video data, wherein the auxiliarychannel is configured to send or receive the auxiliary data; wherein theauxiliary channel provides for communication between the system and ahost computer.
 8. The system of claim 7, further comprising: a serialhub, coupled to the receiver via the auxiliary channel, wherein theserial hub is configured to provide serial I/O for peripheral device ornetwork communications.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the receivercomprises: a monitor management interface; and a second mux/demux,coupled to the auxiliary channel, the monitor management interface, andthe serial hub, and wherein the second mux/demux is configured to:communicate the auxiliary data with the auxiliary channel, wherein theauxiliary data comprises serial I/O for peripheral devices andmanagement information for one or more monitors, including firstmanagement information for the first monitor; communicate the serial I/Ofor peripheral devices with the serial hub; communicate the firstmanagement information with the monitor management interface, whereinthe first management information comprises values for attributes of thefirst monitor; wherein the monitor management interface is configuredto: communicate the first management information with the first monitor;wherein the serial hub is configured to: communicate the serial I/O forperipheral devices with the auxiliary channel and one or more peripheraldevices coupled to the serial hub.
 10. The system of claim 9, furthercomprising: a third mux/demux, coupled to the second mux/demux and theserial hub, wherein the third mux/demux is configured to: communicatethe management information for one or more monitors with the secondmux/demux and downstream devices coupled to the system; communicate theserial I/O for peripheral devices with the serial hub and the downstreamdevices coupled to the system.
 11. The system of claim 7, furthercomprising: an audio codec, coupled to the serial hub, wherein the audiocodec provides for communication of audio data with a microphone orspeakers.
 12. The system of claim 7, wherein the serial hub providesdocking functions comprising one or more of: audio functions; functionsfor human interface devices (HIDs); or functions for networkcommunications.
 13. The system of claim 7, wherein the system supportsmultiple monitors, docking functions, and protected content via a singlecable.
 14. The system of claim 1, further comprising: the first monitor;wherein the system implements a zero client.
 15. The system of claim 1,wherein the transmit physical interface is configured to support asingle HDMI/DVI port in lieu of multiple video streams.
 16. The systemof claim 1, wherein the system is comprised on a chip, wherein thesystem is coupled to a host computer and is useable to receive theplurality of video streams from a graphics processing unit (GPU) of thehost computer.
 17. The system of claim 1, wherein instances of thesystem are useable in respective daisy chained zero clients coupled to ahost computer via a network.
 18. The system of claim 1, wherein thesystem is implemented as an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC).
 19. A method for displaying data on a monitor, comprising:receiving, to a receiver on a circuit, a plurality of video streams,wherein each video stream comprises respective video data; determining,via a first mux/demux on the circuit, which video stream of theplurality of video streams is to be displayed on the monitor; routingthe determined video stream to a display interface; generating, via thedisplay interface, an output signal based on the video data of thedetermined video stream, and sending the output signal to the monitorwherein the display interface is configured to couple with the monitor;routing, via the first mux/demux, a remainder of the video streams ofthe plurality of video streams to a transmitter on the circuit; sending,via the transmitter, the remainder of the video streams to a transmitphysical interface on the circuit; transmitting, via the transmitphysical interface, the remainder of the video streams as output,wherein the remainder of the video streams are used as inputs to one ormore additional monitors coupled to the monitor and wherein the transmitphysical interface is configured to couple with at least one of the oneor more additional monitors.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein themethod is performed by a first instance of a circuit that is includablein or connectable to the first monitor, wherein further instances of thecircuit are included in or connected to each of the one or moreadditional monitors, and wherein the instances of the circuit are daisychained, the method further comprising: each instance of the circuitperforming: receiving at least a subset of the plurality of videostreams; extracting and displaying a video stream from the at least asubset of the plurality of video streams on a respective monitor; andtransmitting at least a remainder of the at least a subset of theplurality of video streams as output to another of the instances of thecircuit.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein each instance of thecircuit further comprises: an auxiliary channel, coupled to or comprisedin the receiver, wherein the signal further comprises auxiliary data,wherein the auxiliary data comprises non-video data, wherein theauxiliary channel is configured to send or receive the auxiliary data,wherein the auxiliary channel provides for communication between thecircuit and a host computer; and a serial hub, coupled to the receivervia the auxiliary channel, wherein the serial hub is configured toprovide serial I/O for one or more peripheral devices coupled to theserial hub; wherein the instances implement a sequential tiered startopology, wherein a first video stream of the plurality of video streamsis associated with the serial hub of the first instance of the circuit,and wherein successive video streams of the plurality of video streamsare respectively associated with the serial hubs of the furtherinstances of the circuit in a sequential manner, thereby associatingeach video stream with the one or more serial peripheral devicesrespectively coupled to each serial hub.
 22. The method of claim 20,wherein the instances of the circuit and the monitors compriserespective daisy chained zero clients coupled to a host computer via anetwork.
 23. The method of claim 19, wherein the at least a remainder ofthe video streams comprises the plurality of video streams.
 24. Themethod of claim 19, wherein the at least a remainder of the videostreams comprises a subset of the plurality of video streams.
 25. Themethod of claim 19, wherein the receiver comprises a high definitioncontent protection (HDCP) engine that supports HDCP, the method furthercomprising: the receiver decrypting the plurality of video streams viathe HDCP engine if content protection is enabled.
 26. The method ofclaim 19, wherein the signal further comprises auxiliary data, whereinthe auxiliary data comprises non-video data, the method furthercomprising: an auxiliary channel, coupled to or comprised in thereceiver, sending or receiving the auxiliary data to a serial hub,coupled to the receiver via the auxiliary channel; and the serial hubproviding serial I/O for peripheral device or network communications viathe auxiliary channel.
 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the auxiliarydata comprises serial I/O for peripheral devices and managementinformation for one or more monitors, including first managementinformation for the monitor, the method further comprising:communicating, via a second mux/demux the auxiliary data with theauxiliary channel; communicating, via the second mux/demux, the serialI/O for peripheral devices with the serial hub; communicating, via thesecond mux/demux, the first management information with the monitormanagement interface, wherein the first management information comprisesvalues for attributes of the monitor; communicating, via the monitormanagement interface, the first management information with the monitor;and communicating, via the serial hub, the serial I/O for peripheraldevices with the auxiliary channel and one or more peripheral devices.28. The method of claim 27, further comprising: communicating, via athird mux/demux, the management information for one or more monitorswith the second mux/demux and one or more downstream devices; andcommunicating, via a third mux/demux, the serial I/O for peripheraldevices with the serial hub and the one or more downstream devices. 29.The method of claim 26, further comprising: communicating, via an audiocodec coupled to the serial hub, audio data with a microphone orspeakers.
 30. The method of claim 26, wherein the serial hub providesdocking functions comprising one or more of: audio functions; functionsfor human interface devices (HIDs); or functions for networkcommunications.
 31. The method of claim 19, wherein said receivingcomprises receiving the plurality of video streams from a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU) of a host computer.
 32. A system, comprising: twoor more daisy chained monitors, each monitor respectively comprising orcoupled to: a circuit, comprising: a receiver, configured to receive asignal comprising a plurality of video streams, wherein each videostream comprises respective video data; a first mux/demux, coupled tothe receiver, wherein the first mux/demux is configured to determinewhich video stream of the plurality of video streams is to be displayedon the monitor; a display interface coupled to the first mux/demux,wherein the display interface is configured to generate output signalsbased on the video data of the determined video stream to be displayedon the first monitor; a transmitter, coupled to the first mux/demux; anda transmit physical interface, coupled to the transmitter, wherein thefirst mux/demux is further configured to send at least a remainder ofthe video streams of the plurality of video streams to the transmitter,wherein the transmitter is configured to send the at least a remainderof the video streams to the transmit physical interface, and wherein thetransmit physical interface is configured to transmit the at least aremainder of the video streams as output, wherein the at least aremainder of the video streams are used as inputs to one or moreadditional monitors coupled to the respective monitor; wherein a firstmonitor of the two or more monitors is coupled to a computer, andwherein the circuit of the first monitor is configured to: receive theplurality of video streams from the computer; extract and display afirst video stream of the plurality of video streams; and transmit theat least a remainder of the plurality of video streams to a secondmonitor of the two or more monitors; and wherein the circuit of thesecond monitor is configured to: receive the at least a remainder of theplurality of video streams from the circuit of the first monitor; andextract and display a second video stream of the plurality of videostreams; wherein the circuit of the second monitor is useable totransmit another at least a remainder of the plurality of video streamsto respective circuits of one or more further monitors in a daisy chainmanner.
 33. The system of claim 32, wherein the two or more daisychained monitors comprise a first monitor and at least one othermonitor, wherein the circuit further comprises: an auxiliary channel,coupled to or comprised in the receiver, wherein the signal furthercomprises auxiliary data, wherein the auxiliary data comprises non-videodata, wherein the auxiliary channel is configured to send or receive theauxiliary data, wherein the auxiliary channel provides for communicationbetween the monitor and the computer; and a serial hub, coupled to thereceiver via the auxiliary channel, wherein the serial hub is configuredto provide serial I/O for one or more peripheral devices coupled to theserial hub; wherein the daisy chained monitors implement a sequentialtiered star topology, wherein a first video stream of the plurality ofvideo streams is associated with the serial hub of the first monitor,and wherein successive video streams of the plurality of video streamsare respectively associated with the serial hubs of the at least oneother monitor and any further daisy chained monitors in a sequentialmanner, thereby associating each video stream with the one or moreserial peripheral devices respectively coupled to each serial hub.